Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas 2011! We hope you stay happy, healthy, and warm with your loved ones this season...and reflect on what it really means to be together celebrating CHRISTmas!
Love,
The Moss'

Christmas Eve

I love that Christmas Eve was on a Friday this year.... PERFECT!
We enjoyed a delicious turkey/ham dinner with all the fixings (and dessert) at Jeff's sister, Haley's home. Her husband was the masterful chef. Afterward Jeff's mom and step-dad gifted us with their presents. Ironically, Quinton has been SMITTEN with Frosty the Snowman (the classic cartoon) this year and Grandma TeeTee gave him a singing Frosty! He loved it...and even slept with it that night!

Along with Frosty, Quinton also got a recordable Frosty the Snowman book. The voice reading the story is his Great-Grandmother Bywater (Heal), aka 'GG'. That was a special treat for the whole family.

Corbin got a new soccer ball... since he lost the one he's used the last 2 seasons. The boys were happy. That's the one thing I love about children... they are so grateful and appreciative of simple gifts.

Jeff & I got a new set of Nutcracker mugs and a matching, darling 'Little Drummer Boy' cookie jar in the shape of a drum.

Jeff's mom also made these cute winter photo collages for all her children with pictures from our annual sleigh/snow party.

I took it right home and hung it up.

Once home the boys couldn't wait to open their Christmas Eve gifts from mom and dad...

They always get new pajamas--and they know that, but a gift is always a surprise and they were excited for new jammies!

Then it was time to prepare for Santa's arrival! We hung the stockings and wrote a note to Santa on his cookie plate.

Of course, we had to taste test Santa's snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies before leaving some for him....

Then it was off to bed!

Festival of Lights

Spanish Fork has a really great light display:
The Festival of Lights.
There is a great variety of displays put to Christmas music, with new additions each year.
Our boys enjoy it because on top of the holiday cheer and all the lights, we allow them out of their seat belts and they get to help dad drive around...one time for each boy.
I guess this is Q's face of approval this year.

Corbin and I approved of the fun night too.

Deagan.... LOVED it! Can you tell? Thrilling!

Here are a few of our favorites from 2010:
The Ice Castle

The Nativity Scene

The animated signs

The Polar Bears

Of course they like the North Pole House with Santa Claus inside but that picture didn't turn out. This year it was especially neat because it snowed the whole night!

Moss Cousin Gift Exchange

When all but 2 Moss-side cousins were in town a week before Christmas it was the perfect opportunity to have a cousin gift exchange at Grandma's house. Corbin was so excited to pick out gifts this year for his cousins and his brothers and was actually interested in watching others open their gifts for the sake of giving... I know, a true sign that he's growing up. The cousin gift theme this year was "game/activity". Here is Corbin tearing into his Yahtzee game from Sammy...

....and 2 tickets to the ASU v. U of U game here in SLC in October. Now that those 2 teams will be in the PAC 12 together, it should be an interesting match-up. Not sure who was more excited for that gift-- Corbin or Jeff?

Deagan was all about the bows and paper this year, but as he got better at ripping into his gifts...

... we think he caught on that there was fun inside the paper too! So easy to please.

Dylan enjoyed his I-Tunes gift card. Fit for a 16-year old boy.

Carson enjoyed his electronic card game.

Quinton couldn't get enough of his Toy Story Memory game.

It was a great get together because as soon as the kids all opened their gifts they kept busy and quiet playing while the adults got to visit for a bit. Merry Christmas to all!

Ho Ho Ho!

Yes, we are one of those strange families who wait in a long line at the mall to see Santa Clause. It's another great indoor, free activity to do in the winter and our boys were all at a good age this year to enjoy Santa instead of scream at him.

Corbin had a great conversation with Santa about his behavior and his list. Quinton listened in and Deagan tried to figure out who in the world was holding him.

After all Christmas is all about the children and teaching them to BELIEVE right?

Preschool Christmas program

Corbin...just might have been the cutest elf we saw all season!

Here is a short clip of his Christmas program... can you hear Corbin?

Christmastime is here...

As soon as we returned from our AZ Thanksgiving trip the boys were begging for Christmas decor. Corbin is at the perfect age to "get it" and to really help. Of course they love all the Father Christmases we have and they got to choose where to place them this year.

Corbin was happy to decorate his very own tree in HIS room! It doubled as a great night-light for the month of December.

This little nativity is perfect for re-introducing the meaning of Christmas at the very beginning of the season. Corbin was old enough this year to handle the fragile pieces and he set it up just right. (Regretfully I didn't get a picture of it, but after he set up the entire scene Corbin placed about a dozen tiny presents all around the baby Jesus. I LOVED discovering that little surprise.)

This year we made our own advent calendar. Corbin was a great help.... as you can see.

There is a new Hobby Lobby store in Orem and we found these great little paper mache boxes with lids. We painted them, numbered them, stuck magnets on the backs of each box, and placed a Christmas-story-themed scripture, activity, song, and treat in each one. It made breakfast time really exciting and meaningful each morning until Christmas.... and it turned out pretty cute too to adorn our fridge.

Jeff and I have had an artificial pre-lit Christmas tree for about 5 years but it is too tall to fit in our current home so we went with a real tree this year. Besides our kids are at that age when they really enjoy going to pick out the tree, help water it, help vacuum up all the needles, and enjoy the smell of evergreen. (Maybe when they're teenagers and don't care as much we'll keep with the fake tree.) Home Depot had a great selection during the first week of December... we found our tree!

Jeff had it fresh cut, bagged, and tied it to the roof to haul home... it brought back memories from my childhood doing the exact same thing at some random tree lot with my family. So fun!

Once we got it home we had a Ward Christmas Party to attend so the trimming the tree had to wait until the next morning. The boys didn't mind. This was Corbin's year to place the star on top. Mind you... our 1 year old helped half the glass ornaments to migrate half-way up the tree. It was a beautiful tree nonetheless.

And now... it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here....

A Special Visit....

From Grandma & Grandpa Larson!
The day after Christmas my parents arrived from sunny Arizona. It was such a treat to have them come stay with us... they've spoiled us lately with several visits and we love it! During their stay we played... A LOT!
Grandpa knows how to get down on the boys' level and really play with them and they love it! Especially showing off all their new Christmas novelties.

Grandma got in some good time with Deagan. He really knows how to coo and smile now and he told her a bunch of stories.

We relaxed and visited as much as possible.

While the boys ran (and rode) circles around us all. They play together so well now!

Grandparents are always good for telling stories and reading books before nap time.

We also ventured out in to the cold one night to see the SLC temple lights. Can you believe this was my parents' first time EVER seeing SLC's lights. They have enjoyed the warmth of the Mesa Temple Light display for years and never bothered to come up and see Salt Lake's.

It was sure beautiful....and COLD!

On Sunday the 27th we blessed Deagan (another post to follow on that). Corbin and Quinton loved having Grandpa around on our long Sunday morning before 1 o'clock church to line them up and TICKLE them to death. Not sure who loved it more.... Grandpa or the boys?

It sure brought memories back of my childhood.... getting tickled to death! Matter of fact... my kids might have those same memories of their Grandpa Larson! There was lots of tickling...

I even got in a sewing lesson with my mom on the sewing machine I inherited from my grandma (her mom) who passed away a year ago.

Jeff still can't believe that my parents really do eat pecan pie and wassail for breakfast during the Holidays! What can I say? I'm their daughter-- I don't think it's weird! :)

Although it was a quick trip, we had a lot of fun and made some great memories.

We even continued a Larson grandchild tradition. My parents allow their grandchildren to spend the night at their house on their birthdays and the next morning they got out to IHOP for smiley-face pancakes and then birthday shopping. Since my boys live so far away (and were too young) they've never gotten in on the tradition. So, grandma and grandpa cashed in. Before they left we made a trip to IHOP and enjoyed smiley-face pancakes (and omelets).

Now their picture can be added to grandma and grandpa's collection.

I have a feeling Quinton really likes this tradition and he'll want his mom and dad to carry it out on his real birthday in June! :)

Thanks for coming Mom & Dad! We always look forward to and enjoy your company! You spoiled us this time! :]